SANTA CRUZ -- What plagued the Santa Cruz Warriors during their four-game losing streak -- weak finishes -- was a moot point on Friday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

Fourth-quarter struggles certainly have a way of disappearing when a team can beat its opponent before ever playing the final stanza. And entering the fourth against the Tulsa 66ers, Santa Cruz led by 27.

The Warriors returned home for the first time in 10 days and returned to their roots, delivering an impressive defensive performance en route to beating Tulsa 93-72 to snap a four-game skid.

Taylor Griffin led all scorers with 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds -- five on offense. He finished 10 of 13 from the free-throw line and sparked the Warriors' early 12-2 cushion they would never surrender.

Stefhon Hannah, who played aggressive defense alongside Maurice Baker, finished with 15 points and had four assists and two steals. Daniel Nwaelele, playing in just his second game since returning from an ankle injury, came off the bench to score 13 points.

Santa Cruz (10-6) will host Tulsa (9-9) again Sunday at 5 p.m.

Despite a few defensive lapses in the first half, the Warriors built a 76-49 lead following a 31-point outburst in the third quarter. They led by as many as 30 points in the game and scored 24 points off of 21 Tulsa turnovers.

The difference between this game and those of Santa Cruz's four-game losing streak was obvious to coach Nate Bjorkgren.

"We sustained our defense," said Bjorkgren, whose team held second-half leads in three of its last four games, but was unable to close out in any of them.

"I thought there were a lot of shot-clock buzzers tonight where we played defense for 20-plus seconds, 24 seconds. I thought we just stayed with the play," he added. "If we gave up a bucket one time, we really tried to come down the next time and get a stop."

That philosophy limited Tulsa, which had shot better than 50 percent from the field in six of its last nine games, to just 34.2 percent against Santa Cruz. The Warriors this season have held their opponents to the lowest field-goal percentage in the D-League.

Playing without Jeremy Lamb, who was recalled by the Oklahoma City Thunder prior to the game, the 66ers were instead led by Hollis Thompson's 18 points and Perry Jones' double-double of 13 points and 18 rebounds.

Jones, a 2012 first-round draft pick who was on assignment from the Thunder, slammed home a dunk in the opening minutes to supply Tulsa a 2-0 lead. But a stifling Santa Cruz defense set the tone from there, and the Warriors built an early 10-point lead through the first four minutes of regulation.

Griffin and Mickell Gladness had two blocks apiece as Tulsa's big men grew frustrated as the game progressed. Daniel Orton, who is also on assignment from the Thunder, was limited to just eight points and was served a technical foul.

"That's been the game plan the whole season," Griffin said of the defense. "The problem is with the four games we lost, we did it in spurts. We didn't do it for the whole game."

Those struggles had been especially evident in the fourth quarter. In their last four games, the Warriors had been outscored 125-62. On Friday, the led 76-49 heading into the final period.

"This is the first game in a long time that we've done it the whole game," Griffin said.

Santa Cruz combined for 10 steals, with Baker leading the way with three. That aggressive presence on one end only translated to Santa Cruz's transition game.

It all peaked in the third quarter, when Santa Cruz outscored Tulsa 31-10.

Griffin began the quarter with a short-range hook, followed with a monster dunk off an assist by Hannah, and continued with a two-handed slam after pump-faking past his defender. Each basket followed a Tulsa turnover.

"When we're playing lockdown defense," Griffin said, "we can get out and run and get some easy lay-ups."

That helps when you're playing without your leading scorer. Travis Leslie, who entered the game averaging a team-high 15.7 points and 7.9 rebounds, was sidelined with an injury. Cameron Jones filled the opening spot on the starting lineup, and finished with 14 points.

The Warriors couldn't have asked for a better start on their return home. They opened the game by forcing Tulsa into a shot-clock violation on defense, which was the first of five turnovers for the 66ers through the first four minutes of regulation. That set up the team on the other end, where if Jones wasn't knocking down a 3, Griffin was attacking the paint and getting to the free-throw line.

Griffin, who averaged about 17 points per game during Santa Cruz's road stretch, was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line in the first half and finished with 10 points at the break.

Edwin Ubiles, the 2012 D-League Rookie of the Year, was acquired by the Warriors Friday as a returning player. He was inactive against Tulsa while he trains as part of a recovery from an injury.

A 6-foot-6, 204-pound guard/forward, Ubiles averaged 19.6 points and five rebounds in 41 games with Dakota last season, earning him a call-up to the NBA's Washington Wizards. The 26-year-old averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13 minutes played over four games with Washington.

Along with Rookie of the year honors, Ubiles was named to the All D-League first team and All-Rookie first team a year ago. He played five games in the NBA Summer League Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets, and he was a member of the Golden State Warriors' training camp roster in 2011.